He's Dying to Get Inside

Silence filled the driveway of the medium sized Baltimore home. Across from the house, parked against the curb, was the eighteen-people van that the band planned on taking for their tour. It was hard to determine where the actual people would be sitting, being as majority of their belongings were in the vehicle, despite the storage attachment to the rear of the van. Raylee figured that most of the equipment was probably stuffed into it's contents, but she still couldn't fathom how the boys planned on living out of the tiny (in the means of six boys) van would be comfortable.

She teared her eyes away from the vehicle to look at her boyfriend, she couldn't shake the feeling of regret. It irked her that they let so much time pass in between the argument and their fixing of it. Alex wrapped his arms around her, instantly clearing her mind of all her troubled thoughts and filling her with a sense of warmth. His lips felt soft against hers as they kissed their last good-bye. Alex kept it gentle, not wanting to overwhelm her or make her uncomfortable.

Matt cleared his throat and looked between them. As they stepped apart, Ray noticed Kara was standing alone with her arms crossed, Rian was already in the van. Zack, Jack, and Vinny were in the process of climbing into it. That just left her boyfriend, she selfishly wished that he would call the touring off right there just to be with her... But he didn't, and she knew he wouldn't.

"I'm going to call you, no matter what. Just like I promised," Alex said kissing her fore heard one last time. He tilted her face up so she was looking into his eyes, "you better answer the phone."

She laughed and brushed away his hands and stepped away from him, "Go on, your band is awaiting you. And Alex, please try not to get too crazy at the parties."

He nodded and got into the van. The two girls wrapped their arms around each other as they watched their boyfriends pull away. They stood there for several minutes in silence, as if they were waiting for the boys to come back and tell them that they were just kidding or that they should come along too.

But the moment passed and it all settled in, all they had was each other for the rest of the summer. No matter what the boys promised them, none of them knew if it would all be met, simply because this was a new experience and they all had to go through it together. Fortunately for the boys, they were getting the plus side of the separation; the girls were just going to spend their days striving for some normality.

Sunlight creeped into the small bedroom. Raylee could hear from her bed that besides her on the air mattress Kara was waking up. The curly haired girl swung her legs over the bed and walked across the wood floor to claim the bathroom first. She threw on the tee shirt Vinny had given her before he left on tour with the boys and pulled up a pair of jeans.

Some how, even though she had one of her friends, she didn't feel like the day at the carnival was going to be much fun. Alex had called the night before to apologize, the band wasn't going to be able to swing by to join them as they passed through Maryland to the next tour date. It's been a week since the boys left for tour, and that was the first time he'd called her; on top of that, the conversation was pretty much a hi-and-bye.

Ray walked out of the bathroom and looked down at the grey words All Time Low wrote across her chest in disgust, she didn't feel like supporting them if they couldn't even bother to keep in touch with them at least every other day. She could tell from Kara's composed expression, except for her slightly furrowed brows, that she was thinking on the same lines.

"I don't even know why we're attending this anymore," Raylee bluntly stated as she handed the ticket to one of the adults at the gate.

The girl behind her shrugged, her caramel skin looking slightly flushed from the summer's heat, "For one, we made a promise to help out with the booths, and besides, we can't sulk around because our boyfriends aren't attached at our hips anymore. Being on tour is a lot for them, we can't expect them to only care about us when they're living their dream."

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm just a little worried about Alex, do you think I should be?"

"Rian will let me know if anything happens, even if he just calls to tell me that. He cares a lot about you, everything that Alex does he feels responsible for."

"He shouldn't."

"I know that, and so does he... But that doesn't change the fact that he does."

~x~

Rian ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair as he leaned against the small table Vinny had laid their merch on. He uneasily listened to his friend talk to the girl in a low cut shirt across the table. Alex brushed his bangs sideways under his bandanna as he continued to tell the girl stories, he dramatically waved the sharpie in his hand around to demonstrate his point. The girl was eating up the attention, when she leaned forward to whisper something to the lead singer, the drummer bumped the table.

He watched the girl stumble back and walk away, "I'm so sorry!" he called after her.

"What was that?" Alex shot at him.

"I should be asking you that. Did you forget about your girlfriend? You know, the petite curly haired girl who made you into a decent human being. You must have, the way you've been flirting with these girls."

"I don't mean anything by it, bro."

"They don't know that. What happens if you get smashed one day, and the girl has no idea that you've got a girlfriend? Raylee won't accept that, it's her worst fear come to life."

"It won't come down to that."

"Don't let it, or you'll never hear the end of it. I won't let you, neither will Kara. Yeah we're living our dream, but we don't know how long it will last; so don't screw up the rest of your life with someone who means the world to you, even if you're forgetting it right now."